<p>I'm having trouble identifying the difference between Oxford and Emory other than location and the fact that Oxford is only for freshman and sophomores. What are the major differences between the colleges in terms of class size, social life, and professors? What are the benefits of attending Oxford? Any information would be greatly appreciated. :)</p>
<p>i’m a freshman at emory, but i have several good friends from oxford, so this is what i know.
including both fresh/soph classes, the size of oxford is a little greater than the size of my graduating senior class (700). from what i hear, the atmosphere is not unlike a year-long summer camp, it’s a little bit like high school, social life and food is not great. but oxford people tend to create really close bonds just because they go through it together and there’s not that many people there… </p>
<p>most of the people i met at oxford chose to go to oxford because of finances, since oxford is much less expensive, and you still get to tell ppl you graduated from emory.
but emory, without a doubt, gives the more comprehensive college experience.</p>
<p>I go to oxford and what jellyfish said is pretty much correct. Now to answer the other part of your question–the professors–they demand more from you than professors at Emory basically because of the small class sizes. So, in other words, don’t just think Oxford is easier, in terms of academic rigor, than Emory because of Oxford’s higher acceptance rate. There is a caviat to Oxford’s rigor though: someone who posted about the whole Oxford vs. Emory thing in the past said that nearly 90% of Oxford continuees graduate in the top 10% of Emory’s graduating class (I can’t remember what class it was but it was a pretty recent one I’m sure).</p>
<p>One thing I don’t like is when Emory students make comments about Oxford and vice versa. Those of us who started at Emory (myself included) don’t know a lot about Oxford and those currently at Oxford don’t know much about Emory. This is particularly true when it comes to things like difficulty/rigor, quality of professors, and attention from professors (the class sizes, for example, are fairly similar between the two schools - see link below).</p>
<p>This website does a good side-by-side comparison of the two in terms of data.
<a href=“http://www.alumni.emory.edu/siteimages/pdf/chapterpdf/Emory%20quick%20facts.pdf[/url]”>http://www.alumni.emory.edu/siteimages/pdf/chapterpdf/Emory%20quick%20facts.pdf</a></p>
<p>For other things (social life, etc.) only those who have attended both institutions have a good perspective. That’s just my opinion for filtering information.</p>
<p>I dont think that financial reasons play any serious role in going to Oxford. Its just a matter of several thousands of dollars. people who can not afford that much of a difference I am sure receive a big kind of aid anyway through university grants.</p>
<p>In any case, do not be deceived by less picky admission standards. Oxford courses, largely because of very small classes, are pretty challenging as a result of great personal interaction. If you are at Emory College, some classes might be so large that some professors are even wary of giving long essay exams - they will simply “not be able to objectively grade so much material.” (this is all according to my Sociology prof. who teaches at times at Emory College)</p>
<p>Ultimately, you have to decide what you want. I can not tell you much about this so called “social life”. I am not sure what they mean by it but I am there certainly for something else.</p>
<p>The food is pretty bad at Oxford but its not any better at Emory. Its just that they have more choices and its larger - college food is college food to me. Can’t compare with what I eat otherwise.</p>
<p>Most Emory kids consider Oxford a back door into Emory, because Oxford kids tend to have lower stats than their Emory peers.</p>
<p>Thanks for all thr great responses. I will probally ending up applying to both Oxford and Emory. I’ve heard the “back door” into Emory theory, but I like Oxofrd not becuase I have lower stats, but becuse of the small community.</p>
<p>^Colleges00701, well I will always have my above 30 ACT and #1 class rank to pull up if someone ever decides to tell me that I got there back door. My roommate is in the same category and he was employed in places most of Emory would never be able to sniff in. One of my friends turned down Columbia University to be at oxford because she feels NY is too large for her. Treating everyone like they are at Oxford because they cant go anywhere else is pretty stupid. But then again, people have a natural tendency to deliberately find even the most meaningless things so that they feel better about themselves.</p>
<p>Personally I think Oxford admits lower stats because they care more about one’s character when admitting people than at Emory. I may be wrong, though.</p>
<p>I don’t think Emory kids are going to be ******bags and call you dumb because you went to Oxford, but the general feeling I got from other Emory kids was that they thought Oxford was considered a back door. Personally, I didn’t like Oxford because it was too small, and most of the kids were instate. I liked Emory better because it was bigger, and everyone was from so many different parts of the country (made it fun to meet people from different backgrounds).</p>
<p>Well I attend Oxford College now and I am an outer-state Freshman. I love Oxford to be honest with you. It is not a back door school to Emory, it is just a smaller environment and one of the undergraduate schools like Emory College. At Oxford the work is intense, so you can’t slack off at all. The professors really have your best interest in hand, well at least the one’s that I’ve had. We have math, writing, spanish, chemistry tutors, and more. We have everything a big school has, but just a smaller environment.</p>
<p>It says on the link that amadani provided that
87% of emory college has classes less than 30
and oxford has 88%?
I thought oxford had a much more smaller classes compared to emory :S</p>
<p>lyl926
</p>
<p>Those Stats May Or May Not Be Accurate But Consider The Fact That The Other 13% Of Classes At Emory College Are Probably 100 Level Courses (Freshman Level) With 50+ Students In Each Class Whereas At Oxford You’ll Be Hard-Pressed To Find A Class With More Than 33 Kids.</p>
<p>^<<at oxford=“” the=“” work=“” is=“” intense,=“” so=“” you=“” can’t=“” slack=“” off=“” at=“” all.=“”>></at></p>
<p>Ability to go through the intense academic studies is proof enough that you didn’t backdoor your way in.</p>
<p>I’m interested in doing the 3-2 Engineering program with Emory and Georgia Tech. Would it be wiser to attend Emory College for all 3 years than spending 2 years at Oxford, 1 year at Emory, at 2 years at Georgia Tech?</p>
<p>In what sense is it exactly a back door to Emory? Do a lot of Oxford students transfer to Emory?</p>
<p>^They do not transfer, they automatically continue education in Emory College as long as they maintain a minimum GPA of 2.0. That means having C’s in all classes.</p>
<p>sambouc, the reason that theory exists is because you will still get a diploma from Emory yet there are two different ways for that; 1) Go to Oxford then automatically to Emory or 2) Get into Emory and then continue your four years.</p>
<p>And whoever said Oxford is mainly instate, 62% of their incoming class was from out of state. </p>
<p>Personally, I disagree with the backdoor theory but it’s quite inevitable that people talk about that…Oxford has 53% admittance with 3.56 average GPA and 1160-1330 SAT range and ACT at 22-29. Emory has 28% acceptance rate with 3.845 average GPA and 1300-1480 SAT range and ACT at 29-33. And not to diss anyone or anything but someone said about talking about 30 ACT as a proof and valedictorian status, well for Oxford you are top 25% but you will be bottom 50% (if not lower) on the ACT side and every college has their shares of valedictorians (at least the colleges that I know of).</p>
<p>The stats are all there. I find Emory more “stressful” because there’s more competition from among your peers; however, you can also say that you will be motivated by the same group as well. With 72% rejected, you are bound to end up with people who are highly intellectually motivated (sometimes too much and are gunners). </p>
<p>I don’t really get why anyone would choose Oxford when they are accepted to Emory as well. The whole “it’s smaller” etc reasons are weird because you are bound to go to Emory anyways and establishing relationships with your peers and your professors is generally a good thing especially when you are seeking recommendations for work or for graduate school. I don’t know. For me, if a school being smaller is a reason to go there, I would go to a school somewhere else where I don’t have to dread about going to a “bigger” school for my junior/senior years.</p>
<p>just to make something clear, I have nothing against Oxford…</p>
<p>^Very good assessment. The last two years of college are the most important, and Oxford seems to have the better/more caring/more-devoted-to-teaching professors compared to Emory for intro classes, <in my=“” opinion=“” from=“” researches=“”> (except that Emory isn’t any worse so if you’re choosing school over this don’t even use it as a factor; if you wanna go to Emory instead go ahead). It makes sense to spend your first two years taking core introductory classes with professors who only teach and care only about teaching to make a living, with a more rigorous courseload, then transfer to main campus junior year as you will be better prepared (or so I’ve heard). But, dude, screw this. It doesn’t matter; if you make 2.0+ at Oxford you’re Emory material no matter what. That 3.0+ is just for “feel better” effect.</in></p>
<p>So on the “Oxford as backdoor” argument… It seems that the only way to justify once and for all that you didn’t backdoor is to show proof that you got into a better school than Emory College or have an Emory College letter. Otherwise, no matter what you say, the people will view it as a backdoor. But uhh…Oxford is harder to get better grades so, really, in my point of view, if they made it through Oxford successfully (3.0+ GPA) then they proved themselves and once they move to main campus they shouldn’t have the “backdoor” label on them. 2.0-2.9? A bit to low, even though they do a lot of work for that, but still, grad schools and other places don’t put that much emphasis on what undergrad you went to compared to what grades you get; in short, you lose despite your potential to maybe get 3.5+ at a state college.</p>
<p>I have nothing against Oxford either. I actually think it’s better than Emory College. The only footprints on Oxford’s face are the lower stats required to get in. If they’re the same then, hell, a lot more people would be running to Oxford because the whole “Oxford = backdoor” viewpoint is there (if they even spent like 30 minutes researching Oxford I bet they’d drop the label; but they just take a glance and make a conclusion). But do yourself a favor and forget about the requirements. They’ll bull; if you get in, you get in, and be prepared to do the work.</p>